Washington and Tehran “are far from a final agreement,” Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a state television interview on Saturday, with a ceasefire due to expire in days.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said negotiations are still ongoing but Iran “got a little cute.” He had said multiple times this week that a deal with Iran was very close, claiming Tehran has made some key concessions.
Indications point to a number of hurdles that still need to be resolved — and Trump has threatened he would not extend the current ceasefire, if Iran doesn’t strike an agreement.
Here are the main sticking points:
The fate of Iran’s uranium stockpiles: Trump suggested this week that Iran agreed to ship its stockpile of highly enriched uranium to the US, a claim that was quickly rebuked by a senior Iranian official who said the demand was a “non-starter.”
Iran has about 400 kilograms of 60% enriched uranium. One proposal that has been floated involves unfreezing Iranian assets in exchange for Tehran turning over its stockpile.
Iran has asked for major sanctions relief and unfreezing of assets north of $20 billion, a source familiar with the negotiations told CNN.
Curbs on uranium enrichment: The length of any suspension to Iran’s enrichment program remains another point of contention. The Iranian official who spoke to CNN rejected Trump’s assertion that Tehran agreed to halt the program indefinitely, saying Iran “will never accept” being an “exception from international law.”
During talks last weekend, American negotiators proposed a 20-year pause on Iran enriching uranium, a source familiar with the discussions told CNN. Iran responded with a proposal for a five-year suspension, which the US has rejected, according to a US official.
Reopening Strait of Hormuz: The world breathed a sigh of relief on Friday when Iran announced it would reopen the key shipping route, which has been effectively shuttered for almost two months.
But the reprieve was short-lived. Iran says it is reimposing strict limits on shipping in response to Trump saying a US blockade on Iranian ports will continue until a deal is reached.
CNN’s Mitchell McCluskey, Frederik Pleitgen, Alayna Treene and Kevin Liptak contributed reporting.
